Lucid Group, Inc. is an American
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
manufacturer headquartered in
Newark, California
Newark is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in September 1955. Newark is an enclave, surrounded by the city of Fremont. The three cities of Newark, Fremont, and Union City make up the Tri-City ...
.
The company was founded in 2007.
Deliveries of the Dream Edition launch versions were made available to the first group of 520 reservation holders on October 30, 2021.
History
![Lucid Studio Brickell City Centre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Lucid_Studio_Brickell_City_Centre.jpg)
Lucid was founded in 2007 under the name Atieva and originally focused on building electric vehicle batteries and powertrains for other vehicle manufacturers.
Lucid's
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and CTO,
Peter Rawlinson, formerly served as VP of Engineering and Chief Engineer of the
Model S
The Tesla Model S is a battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-motor and rear-wheel drive l ...
at
Tesla, Inc.
Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...
,
and Vice President
Derek Jenkins
Derek Jenkins is an American automobile designer. He is currently the senior vice president of design and brand at Lucid Motors. He is known for his contribution to the design of the Mazda MX-5 (fourth generation) as well as the Lucid Air.
B ...
previously worked as Head of Design at
Mazda North American Operations
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), which includes Mazda Motor of America, Inc., is Mazda Motor Corporation's North American arm, and constitutes the largest component of that company outside Japan. The company has its headquarters in Irvine ...
.
The company has seen investments from
Tsing Capital,
Mitsui
is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world.
The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...
,
Venrock
Venrock (portmanteau of Venture and Rockefeller) is a venture capital firm formed in 1969 to build upon the successful investing activities of the Rockefeller family that began in the late 1930s. It has offices in Palo Alto, California, New York ...
,
JAFCO
, abbreviated as JAFCO is a investment holding company headquartered in the Toranomon district of Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. JAFCO is considered to be the oldest as well as largest Vent ...
, and others.
The company rebranded to Lucid Motors in October 2016 and officially announced its intent to develop an all-electric, high-performance luxury vehicle.
On November 29, 2016, state and company officials announced the planned construction of Lucid's US$700 million manufacturing plant in Casa Grande, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...
, which was projected to employ up to 2,000 workers by the mid-2020s, initially building 20,000 cars and expanding up to 130,000 cars per year. The factory was then to be designed to support a maximum capacity of 380,000 cars per year. , the company had planned to break ground in 2017, and have cars in production by early 2019. The first vehicles began rolling off the assembly line on September 28, 2021.
On September 17, 2018, Lucid Motors announced that they were in talks with the Public Investment Fund
The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ar, links=no, صندوق الإستثمارات العامة) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of $620 billion ...
, which is the Saudi Arabian sovereign investment fund, for funding valued at over US$1 billion. The investment was completed in April 2019. The investment will fund: the final engineering and testing of the Lucid Air model; the first-phase construction of its manufacturing plant in Casa Grande, Arizona; the commercial production of the Lucid Air; and Lucid's worldwide retail strategy, beginning in North America. Construction of the plant began in late 2019, the first-phase was completed in December 2020. The second-phase construction is ongoing and will increase production capacity from 34,000 to 90,000 vehicles a year. The completed factory (4 phases) will have a combined manufacturing capacity of about 400,000 cars per year.
In February 2021, Lucid Motors announced a deal valued at US$11.75 billion to merge with Churchill Capital Corp IV, a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a "blank check company", is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional i ...
(SPAC). CEO Rawlinson announced Lucid's intention to produce its Project Gravity SUV by 2023, then offer a competitor to Tesla's Model 3 by 2024 or 2025.
In July 2021, ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that the Public Investment Fund will own over 60 percent of Lucid when the company goes public. The fund will record a profit of nearly US$20 billion from its investment in Lucid in 2018.
Lucid began building its first all-electric Air
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...
sedans in Arizona in September 2021 and started delivering them to customers in late October.
On February 28, 2022, Lucid decreased its 2022 production outlook from 20,000 vehicles to 12,000–14,000 vehicles, citing supply chain issues.
Vehicles
Lucid mainly developed battery technology in its early years, but began development of its first car in 2014.[
]
Development prototype
The company initially used a Mercedes Metris van named "Edna", to develop the powertrain
A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...
.
Lucid Air
A prototype of the Lucid Air
The Lucid Air is a battery electric car produced and marketed by Lucid Motors. Unveiled in December 2016, it is designed to compete with existing brands in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, in particular the Tesla Model S Plaid, the Fisker
...
fully electric car was unveiled in December 2016. Lucid Air production was expected to start in spring 2021. In November 2020, The Lucid Air Pure was announced with of projected range and and a starting price of US$77,400. The full range of models includes Lucid Air Touring, Grand Touring, and Dream Edition versions. The top spec cars have an output of over .
On September 16, 2020, the US Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
(EPA) rated the range of the Lucid Air to be on a single charge.
Lucid has agreed with Mobileye
Mobileye Global Inc. is a company developing autonomous driving technologies and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) including cameras, computer chips and software. Mobileye was acquired by Intel in 2017 and went public again in 2022. Mobi ...
to use their EyeQ4 chips and eight cameras for driver assist
Driver may refer to:
Transportion
* A person whose occupation is driving
** Chauffeur, a person who drives an automobile as a job
** Motorman (locomotive), an electric vehicle driver
** Bus driver
** Truck driver
* SS ''Empire Driver'' or SS ' ...
features, and will make the car "autonomous ready". This 4-door sedan is able to reach a software-limited top speed of . In July 2017, running on the high-speed track at the Transportation Research Center
The Transportation Research Center (TRC) is North America's largest multi-user automotive proving ground. It is operated by TRC Inc. The center occupies 4,500 acres in East Liberty, Ohio, just 40 miles northwest of Columbus, Ohio. These 4,500 ...
in Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, a special version of the car (with the speed limiter disabled via software and other modifications) hit .
Lucid is collaborating with Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
to build in compatibility with Amazon's Alexa
Alexa may refer to: Technology
*Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon
* Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service
* Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture camera
People
*Alexa (name), a given name and ...
voice assistant, allowing drivers to use the voice assistant for navigation, phone calls, media streaming, smart home control, and other activities while driving.
The infotainment system
In-car entertainment (ICE), or in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides audio or video entertainment. In car entertainment originated with car audio systems that consisted of radios and c ...
is based on Android Automotive
Android Automotive (aka Android Automotive OS or AAOS) is a variation of Google's Android operating system, tailored for its use in vehicle dashboards. Introduced in March 2017, the platform was developed by Google and Intel, together with car ma ...
.
A Lucid Air is used by the character of Samantha Margolis in several episodes of season four of the Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...
TV series ''Goliath''.
In September 2021, Lucid released the EPA estimated range for both the Dream Edition Air and Air Grand Touring; the Dream Air had a range of 520 miles on a single charge while the Grand Touring offered 516 miles, making the Dream the longest range of any EV rated by the EPA and the Grand Touring the first to top 400 miles in a test drive.
Lucid Motors unveiled its 2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring model in November 2021. This version of the Air Grand Touring is powered by two electric motors that combine for and of torque.
On May 5, 2022, Lucid announced that it was raising prices of the variants of its luxury Air sedan, beginning June 1, 2022. The price hikes were expected to push the base price of the Air sedan up as much as 13%.
Lucid Air was named ''Motor Trend
''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949.
Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 19 ...
’s'' 2022 Car of the Year, being the first time a brand new car model won the award.
Project Gravity
Lucid teased an electric SUV concept
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...
in September 2020 called Project Gravity with only a brief image and short video segment.[ Additional details were found in the patents that Lucid filed for the Gravity. The patents show that the Gravity features sleek headlamps similar to those of the Lucid Air as well as a visibly short hood and a large windscreen. In addition, the patents show that the side of the vehicle has a horizontal beltline as well as a sleek, wide windows, and quarter glass panels.
]
Batteries
The Lucid Air will debut with a 900V+ electrical architecture, and custom lithium-ion battery cells. Lucid's car uses the 2170 standard for its lithium-ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...
cell
Cell most often refers to:
* Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life
Cell may also refer to:
Locations
* Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...
s, and supply agreements have been signed with both Samsung SDI
Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. () is a battery and electronic materials manufacturer headquartered in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Samsung SDI operates its business with Energy Solutions and Electronic Materials segment. The Energy Solution segment ma ...
and LG Chem
LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 10th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2017. It was first established ...
.
Lucid designs, develops, manufactures, and supplies battery packs for gen2 Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
race teams beginning in the 2018-2019 season through the 2021-2022 racing season,[ in collaboration with ]McLaren Applied Technologies
McLaren Applied Limited is a British technology company that works in conjunction with companies such as GSK, NHS and more. Its electronic division, McLaren Electronics, manufactures parts such as engine temperature and pressure sensors for ...
and Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
. The Formula E specification calls for a battery weight of , 54 kWh energy, and peak power of up to 250 kW.
Charging
Lucid Motors partnered with Electrify America
Electrify America is an electric vehicle Charging station, DC fast charging station network in the United States, with more than 788 charging locations and over 3,531 individual charging units . It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group of America, ...
to use their nationwide charging network as an option for recharging Lucid's electric vehicles on the road. The Lucid Air will be able to add in 20 minutes when using the station's 350 kW charging capability.
Manufacturing facilities
In December 2019, Lucid broke ground on a factory in Casa Grande, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...
, the first greenfield facility for EV manufacturing in the United States. On December 1, 2020, Lucid completed factory construction, dubbed AMP-1, and "aims to ramp up to 400,000 electric cars per year."
The US$700 million facility was expected to begin producing the Lucid Air
The Lucid Air is a battery electric car produced and marketed by Lucid Motors. Unveiled in December 2016, it is designed to compete with existing brands in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, in particular the Tesla Model S Plaid, the Fisker
...
by spring 2021. The initial phase includes an initial . Phase 2 of construction was expected to begin in early 2021. The land upon which this facility is built is owned by Pinal County, Arizona
Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
, who leases the plot to Lucid. The land was bought by Pinal County for $29.94 million, which was financed by issuing bonds.
On February 28, 2022, Lucid announced a long-term plan to build a new manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
with the capability of producing 150,000 vehicles per year. Lucid has partnered with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), and the King Abdullah Economic City
King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC, ; ar, مدينة الملك عبد الله الاقتصادية) is a megaproject announced in 2005 by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the former king of Saudi Arabia.
It was one of six megaprojects that ...
(KAEC).
Saudi Arabia
On, 27 April 2022, Government of Saudi Arabia
The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy along Islamic lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consultation among the Ki ...
announced to purchase a minimum of 50,000 electric vehicles and up to 100,000 electric vehicles from Lucid Motors over a ten-year period. The Saudi government said the decision was in line with efforts to make its fleet more environmentally friendly and diversify the national economy away from oil. Lucid was selected, the government said, because the company is setting up a full production factory in Saudi Arabia—its first international manufacturing plant, which is aiming to produce 150,000 cars annually.
See also
* List of automobile manufacturers of the United States
This article is a list of all current automobile manufacturers of the United States.
Current manufacturers Big Three
The currently active brands from the " Big Three" manufacturers (Ford, General Motors and Stellantis) are shown below.
Ma ...
* List of production battery electric vehicles
This is a list of battery electric vehicles that are mass-produced, formerly produced, and planned. It includes only vehicles exclusively using chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, with no secondary source of propulsion ( ...
* Plug-in electric vehicles in the United States
The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States is supported by the American federal government, and several states and local governments. , cumulative sales in the U.S. totaled 2.32 million highway legal plug-in electric ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control
2007 establishments in California
Battery electric vehicle manufacturers
Car brands
Car manufacturers of the United States
Companies based in Newark, California
Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in California
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2007
Special-purpose acquisition companies
Public Investment Fund
American companies established in 2007